New Year's Resolution for Homebirth

I pretty much think New Year's Resolutions are hokey, but sometimes I think taking the time to formulate some general goals can serve as a "sanity check" be sure the things you are doing are moving you in the right direction. Considering the work I do as a student midwife, I feel that what I do supports my goal of helping more and more mothers give birth naturally and in a family-centered way.

However, I can do more. The women I serve come to us -- not the other way around. I would like to do more outreach to people who might not have considered a homebirth or midwifery care. How can I do more to spread the word about homebirth midwifery in my community? One of my resolutions is to do more community outreach to help more people know that homebirth midwifery is one of the choices available to them.

Another resolution I have is to work towards building bridges to the local medical community. Sometimes, admittedly not very often, we have to transfer care to a physician or to the hospital staff. I would like to do something to help our local doctors, nurses, and EMS understand the CPM credential and why our clients choose to give birth naturally at home. It can be very difficult for people to have to transfer care when their heart is set on having their baby at home. I don't want them to have to deal with explaining their choices to uninformed hospital staff at the same time as having to deal with the loss of their homebirth dream. We do our best to make the transition as smooth as possible, but it would be a much smoother transition if the medical community were better informed.

Lastly, I resolve to keep my mind and heart receptive to every woman I help, and to learn as much as I can from the women I serve and work with. Peggy, Tierney, Aimee, and Desiree have such a great amount of wisdom, and I am so fortunate to be able to work with them all. I learn so much when we're together, and the women we serve are such a blessing to us. Each birth, each prenatal appointment, each childbirth class helps me to grow as a midwife, and I am so thankful to have such a treasure to learn from. My task, which can be a challenge at times, is to continue to stay open and humble and just let the learning happen.